The SMS terms must be about the messaging programme
The requirementstatement
The SMS terms must cover the messaging programme specifically rather than restating general website terms.
- Severityseverity
- HighHIGHRejected by at least one carrier or provider, and a common cause of failure at the rest.
- When it bitesphase
- Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
- What is checkedobject
- SMS terms body
- Where it liveslayer
- Policy pagesPOLICY_PAGE
- How Ekas settles itdetectability
- AI · formAI_FORM
- A semantic question about what you wrote: whether a description matches a use case, whether a name looks like a filed entity. Judged by a model against written criteria.
- What the fix involvesfailureClass
- Fix the policyTERMINAL_POLICY
- The fix lives in your privacy policy or SMS terms. Ekas can generate the missing clauses.
- Who requires itauthorities
- TwilioTCRInfobipAWSSinch
- When it appliesapplicabilityText
- Applies to every 10DLC registration.
Why this rule existsrationale
A page titled "SMS Terms" that turns out to be the standard site terms with a heading changed tells a reviewer that nobody wrote terms for this programme — and the consumer still has no idea what they will receive. It happens when the terms page is produced to satisfy the registration field rather than to document anything.
How to fix itremediation
Write the terms around this programme: what it sends, how often, who it is for, what it costs, how to stop and how to get help. Done when nothing in the document would be true of a different business.
A compliant exampleexample
Acme Coffee Rewards sends weekly promotional offers and rewards balance updates to customers who joined at checkout. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.
Provider rejection codescodes
The code you get back when this rule is what failed, and whether that provider lets you resubmit.
| Provider | Code | Resubmit |
|---|---|---|
| Twiliogen1 | 30882 | Yes |
Rules you will hit next
6 other rules read SMS terms body. Fixing one field to satisfy a single rule is how a resubmission trades one rejection for another, so read these before you change anything.
POL-171The terms must describe the programmeBlockingBLOCKINGPOL-175The terms must carry opt-out informationBlockingBLOCKINGPOL-110A cart-reminder programme must be reflected in the termsHighHIGHPOL-189The terms must distinguish transactional from promotional messagesHighHIGHPOL-191The terms must say the opt-in applies to this programme onlyHighHIGHPOL-192A sweepstakes campaign needs its sweepstakes terms in the T&CHighHIGH
POL-151 is one of 157 policy pages rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.